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Georges St-Pierre again calls for the end of round breaks in MMA

"I believe MMA should not [have] rounds," St-Pierre told MMAjunkie.com in advance of his pay-per-view headliner on Nov. 16 at Las Vegas' MGM Grand Garden arena. "A regular fight, for example, should be 15 minutes nonstop, and a championship fight should be 25 minutes nonstop."

It's been over a decade since his vision was a reality. Time limits were replaced by rounds at UFC 21, which took place in 1999 at the height of MMA's days as a fringe sport sacked by serious political opposition. In 2000, the unified rules were utilized by the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board, which was the first athletic commission to sanction MMA.

Among them, non-title fights require three five-minute rounds, while title fights get five five-minute rounds.

Additional rules and protocols have appeased adversaries and allowed the sport to enter the mainstream, though some of them, such as the 10-point must system for scoring and the banning of knees to a downed opponent, remain a source of griping among hardcore fans.

St-Pierre's wrestling-centric style often gets the same reception from the MMA faithful, though the champ believes the system he currently works within makes it harder to deliver excitement.

"I think by doing rounds, we're breaking the momentum of the fight and making the fight different," he said. "I think the rounds have been added in the past because they want it to be more similar to boxing, but I believe in MMA, we are our own sport. We should not try to copy any other sport.

"If you want to see two guys fighting each other and see who's the best man, let them fight. Don't stop the fight until it's finished. If there were no rounds, I believe there would be way more finishes."

St-Pierre (24-2 MMA, 18-2 UFC), who first called for time-limit fights in April, also wants to see improved drug testing implemented across the board for athletes. He currently is enrolled with the Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency, which utilizes out-of-competition testing, though a behind-the-scenes snafu with Hendricks (15-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) and his reps nixed his participation.

The longtime welterweight champion, whose fight with "Big Rigg" is his ninth attempted title defense, said enhanced testing will bring MMA closer to bigger mainstream sports. Most of them employ periods or breaks. But he wants to see action to its natural end, or at least as close as possible.

"The fight would be way more fantastic, and the show will be better," St-Pierre said. "That's what I would change about the rules."

Not fighter bashing. I know, as much as he does, that not having round breaks would benefit his kind of style the most. I can get on board with Pride style rounds. The first round being ten minutes, then five minutes after that.

but.. I mean... if you cant stop being taken down and "pummeled" do you deserve the win?? I kinda reference the first Chael/Silva fight if there weren't rounds how different would that fight have been?? would Anderson have taken the (lack of) abuse from Chaels top game or would have he gone for the submission sooner?? this brings up more questions that leads to what the sport was invented for in the first place was "who is the best at using their bones and brain" and nothing else?

I know "on the street!" there are many variables (friends, weapons, timing, alcohol consumption, previous conditioning etc...) but if we really want to see who is the best fighter why do we break them up for 1 minute to give them a break and (if you have a good corner) advice how to better beat your opponent?? isn't a REAL fight 1 man (with ONLY his bones and HIS brain) vs another man with the exact same?

imo that is the SPIRIT of UFC 1 but our legal system turned it into something else that determines a completely different outcome.. who is most prepared for THIS set of rules (granted a street fight involves all of the things I mentioned and more) but what I really want to see is who is the best in the world at using JUST what they have.. and that to me makes MMA great because its just a simulated battle between man vs man without anything else and that is the definition of PURE battle to me..

GSP does not blanket. If you think that GSP blankets, you seriously need to brush up on his past matches rather than relying on hearsay and jokers to form that opinion in your mind.

Shields is a blanketer who lands pillowfists from the top while grappling only for position.

GSP, on the other hand, utilizes every tool in his french army knife both on the ground and on the feet.

My opinions are my own. This is obviously a touchy subject to you. I have watched all his fights and I can assure you that these are original opinions of mine. GSP does blanket. He'll go on top and look active according to the rules the way Clay Guida tries to look active on the feet. He doesnt have intentions of finishing his fights out of fear of overcommiting and getting caught in a submission or a ko. So instead, he'll lay his head on his opponents chest and lift it up every now and then so the ref wont stand him and his opponent up. Like it or not, GSP is a boring fighter. The best thing to happen to him lately was fighting Condit (which I can argue is actually persuading your opinion), as Condit is never in a boring fight. My problem with GSP is that I can see he thinks too much in the cage. He was taught to fight rather than developing natural instincts like the bj penns and wanderlei silvas. I choose not to pay for his fights and instead watch it via live stream as my way of not supporting his fighting style. To me, GSP is the Tim Duncan of the NBA. He is so technical, that it comes off as boring. However, Just because I think its boring, doesnt mean I dont appreciate it. He does what he has to to not lose.

Was this post original enough for you? Or did I rely on hearsay and jokers to formulate my thoughts again.... ?